Domaine TRAPET (Gevrey-Chambertin) -- 2022 Tasted from Bottle and Barrel Samples
This estate has gone under various names over the years, but always with the surname Trapet. For many years, it had been Domaine Jean et Jean-Louis Trapet, but more recent labels I’ve seen say Famille Trapet, an indication of the generational transition going on here, and the website just says Domaine Trapet.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, the estate had an extremely high reputation that then began to slide. At the age of 21, Jean-Louis Trapet joined his father in 1986, and he then took charge of the estate in 1990. He immediately undertook steps to rebuild the quality, including organic farming, and then in 1997, conversion to biodynamic production. The efforts paid off and Trapet has for quite some time been restored to the most elite tier of Côte d’Or producers.
Along the way, Jean-Louis married Andrée, who was from Alsace. In 2003, she undertook operation of her family’s estate in Alsace, now part of Domaine Trapet. Their sons Pierre and Louis, born in 1992 and 1994, respectively, and have now joined the estate.
Louis and Jean-Louis Trapet
My visit this trip with Louis was the first time I have met him. He said that his parents are still active in running the estate, but now tend to be involved increasingly with paperwork while he and Pierre are more involved with the vineyards and the cellars. In any case, as this visit showed, quality remains as high as ever even as the new generation is taking over.
Louis called 2022 a great vintage. There was little rain — it was the second driest vintage since 1947 — but the big storm at the end of June gave enough water to support the vines throughout the rest of the season.
Harvesting began on 5 September and finished on 23 September with the Aligoté.
2022 Bourgogne Passetoutgrains À Minima
This unsulfured wine was tasted from bottle. It is 2/3 Gamay, 1/3 Pinot-Noir. The nose is floral. The mouth is very mineral with red fruits and the wine is penetrating, precise and fresh. 90/A+
2022 Côte de Nuits-Villages Meix Fringuets
Côte de Nuits-Villages used to be an appellation known for tannic and rustic wines. But in recent years from good producers, it has become a wine of excellent quality. Because the market has not yet caught up to this changed reality, the wines provide value in today’s Burgundy market. This wine, alas only available in small quantity, is a prime example of the high quality, showing pure Pinot aromas and flavors. The mouth is very mineral with a silk texture and freshness. (91-93)
2022 Marsannay
The Marsannay is silky and pure with salinity, dark fruits, length, and lightness on the palate. The wine falls across the tongue and is elegant with red berry fruit. (90-92)
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin
The regular Gevrey-Chambertin is medium-weight, silky, and elegant with red fruits. There is more power here than in the Marsannay. This wine is made from grapes in Clos Prieur, Ételois, and Vignes Belles lieux-dits. Almost 30% whole clusters in this wine, and it is raised entirely in 500-liter casks. (90-93)
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin Ostrea
The Ostrea cuvée is made from old vines in the northern part of the Gevrey appellation. The name Ostrea derives from the oyster fossils in the soil. The wine is pure, precise, long, and penetrating with minerality, dark berries and some red, and good salinity. Raised entirely in 500-liter casks. (92-94)
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1859
This cuvée is named for the year that a Trapet first acquired a plot in Gevrey. There’s more quartz and sand in the soils here than for those in the Ostrea. The wine shows dark fruits and is fuller and rounder, almost sappy, but finesse and sophistication are here, as well as good length, and also more tannin than in the previous wines. From the the En Dérée and Champerrier lieux dits. 500-liter casks here, too. (91-93)
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru En Ergot
This rarely-seen premier cru sits between Petite Chapelle and Ételois. Dark fruits here with a silk texture; there’s minerality, but less than in the previous wine, and more volume here. The soils are deep, similar to Clos Prieur, says Louis. 40% new wood on this wine. (92-94)
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Petite Chapelle
Red fruits here, silky texture, lighter than the En Ergot but with breadth, finesse, and good acidity. 40-50% new oak on this wine. (93-95)
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Corbeaux
The Gevrey-Corbeaux has blackberry and black raspberry aromas. The mouth is pure, harmonious and calm with elegance, freshness, and length. It should make a superb bottle when mature. (93-96)
2022 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes
From vines that are on sandy soils just over the boundary with Latricières-Chambertin, this wine has floral and maraschino cherry aromas. The mouth is pure and light with red fruits and delicacy, making for a wine that is complex and layered. 100% new oak here. (94-96)
2022 Latricières-Chambertin
The Latricières-Chambertin is a bit darker in its fruit than the Combottes and has more body. It perhaps has less tension than I usually find in this wine, but there is excellent minerality and freshness here. 100% new oak on this wine. (95-97)
2022 Chapelle-Chambertin
Continuing up the line, the Chapelle-Chambertin has a mineral, chipped-stone nose. The mouth features dark and red fruit that is penetrating, pure, and layered with good acidity. In short, it will make a magnificent bottle. (96-98)
2022 Chambertin
The Chambertin is perhaps slightly darker than the Chapelle-Chambertin in its fruit. The wine is pure, with a gaminess that almost suggests Clos Saint-Jacques, and the wine is fresh and racy. It is not easy to express in words the potential greatness of this wine. (97-99)